SEMINOLE - St. Petersburg overcame an early 11-point deficit and a late scare to defeat Seminole 55-51.
Trailing 51-45, Marquis Ford came through for the Green Devils (2-0), scoring seven points in the last two minutes. He made a 3-pointer to get the Green Devils within three.
He followed by hitting one of two free throws. With Seminole attempting to run out the clock, Ford stole the ball and scored again to make it 51-51.
St. Petersburg continued to pressure Seminole and forced it into a turnover. Ford grabbed the ball but was fouled before he could score.
Ford again hit one free throw, giving the Green Devils the lead with 52 seconds left.
On Seminole's next possession, Devin Collins missed a shot, but Garius Goshay grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 23 seconds left.
Goshay, who scored seven, missed both free throws, but Seminole's Sean Mulvihill grabbed the rebound. Mulvihill missed a jump shot, and the ball bounced off several players and out of bounds off St. Petersburg with 20 seconds left.
With one attempt left, Goshay missed. Brian Blakely grabbed the rebound, and his basket sealed it.
Seminole's Jeff Davis led all scores with 14 points with teammate A.J. Comi contributing 13.
Seminole took a 13-2 lead and led 29-24 at halftime. But it was outscored 17-10 in the third quarter and trailed by two.
Comi's last basket with two minutes left put the Warhawks up by six.
"I told the kids to keep their composure," St. Petersburg coach Chris Blackwell.
"We're young. They are very enthused and energetic about what we're doing. Night in and night out, we just look to put a lot of pressure on people."
